Outrageous Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

We recently got back from an awesome family reunion. My dad's family has been having reunions every two years for as long as I can remember. These are no small reunions - my grandparents have eight children, and well over fifty grandchildren. Many of these grandchildren (including me, of course) are now married and have young children of their own. We are a very large family, so these reunions are a big thing. And at every reunion, the pinnacle of the activities - the event looked forward to and planned for most excitedly by all - is The Auction.

The Auction is held at every reunion, and the proceeds fund the next reunion. This event holds a great deal of entertainment value (and sometimes drama!) for all involved, as well as providing for great reunions and letting everyone come away with a ton of fun stuff. Nearly every family member donates something to The Auction. There are donations ranging from cute little toys for the young ones to bid on, to crafts made by various family members (there are cross-stitched or embroidered samplers, there are always quilts, and last time I donated several crocheted purses), to services such as camping trips and massages. There are miscellaneous fun things, like this year's bottle rocket launchers (courtesy my parents), scrap booking supplies, and a little girl's room decorating kit. And there are edibles - cookies, breads, granola, boxes of chocolates. These are usually homemade, and always bring in a goodly amount of money. My family loves to eat. Here is The Auction table, laden top and bottom with this year's wares ready to be auctioned off.


This year I donated two items - 4 dozen Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, and 2 dozen Caramel S'more Popcorn Balls (recipe coming soon). I may be breaking some unspoken family Auction rule here, but I am posting both recipes here.

The tin of 4 dozen cookies sold for $50.

Outrageous Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets.

Yes, my pan is old and ugly. But it does the job, and I'm too poor/cheap to buy another one for now. :-)


Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.


I felt kind of weird writing this post - like I'm giving away sacred family secrets or something when I talk about The Auction. I mean, you can tell how important it is simply by virtue of the fact that I have to write it in bold, italics, and capitalized! But this recipe is too yummy to not share. So anyone reading this post, who isn't in the family, you may consider yourselves lucky to be privy to such incredible and wondrous information as I have just given about our special Family Auction!